M-Kopa ( M for mobile, kopa is Swahili for borrowed) is a Kenyan solar energy company That Was founded in 2011 by Nick Hughes, Chad Larson and Jesse Moore. [1] [2] [3] Headquartered in Nairobi , the company sells home solar systems in Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda . [4] Hughes previously set up and ran M-Pesa at Vodafone , a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinance service. [5]
M-Kopa was launched commercially in 2012 and has over 300,000 homes in East Africa to solar power , as of early January 2016. [6]
Off-the-grid household customers pay a fee to take the solar system home, then pay a daily amount through M-Pesa for a year, [7] after which they own it. In addition to getting solar power, customers are slowly off-set the cost of the device. [8]
How it works
Customers pay a deposit of 3,500 KES (approx $ 35), take the system home then pay 50 KES (approx $ 0.50) a day for a period of one year, [7] to own the solar system . Daily payments are made through M-Pesa , a mobile phone based money system, and in addition to getting solar power, customers also slowly off-set the cost of the device. [8] The system is meant for an off-grid household that is using kerosene (paraffin) to their home, and paying for batteries and mobile phone charging.
M-Kopa Solar sells through a network of dealers, across Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda . [9]
The latest M-Kopa 4, has an eight watt solar panel that charges cell phones, has a radio and a torch, via USB , includes 2 LED bulbs with light switches, and a rechargeable LED torch (flashlight) and a radio . [10]
The M-Kopa Solar Company
The company was founded in 2011 by Nick Hughes, Chad Larson, and Jesse Moore. [1] Hughes previously set up and ran M-Pesa at Vodafone where Moore also worked during completing his MBA . [5] Larson and Moore were fellow MBA students at Oxford University . [2] [3]
M-Kopa is backed by investors such as Richard Branson , Generation Investment Management , Blue Haven Initiative and LGT Venture Philanthropy, an investment vehicle of the Princely Family of Lichtenstein . [11] [12]
The company’s initial goal was to sell 1,000 units within a 12-month period. [13]
M-Kopa was launched commercially in 2012 and has connected over 300,000 homes in East Africa to solar power, as of early January 2016 [6] and has over $ 40 million of revenue to date. [14] [15] M-Kopa estimates that 80 percent of its customers live on $ 2 a day. [16]
Bloomberg Businessweek identified M-Kopa as “the solar company making a profit off of poor Africans.” [17] In February 2015, M-Kopa announced a plan to blacklist defaulters on its loans with credit bureaus . [18]
A similar named company in Kenya, MKOPA Investments, has disputed M-Kopa’s use of the name and has applied for M-Kopa cease and desist. [19]
Awards
M-kopa has received recognition from various institutions including the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Award 2014, [20] the Zayed Future Energy Award 2015, [21] and two awards from the Financial Times for Technology in Sustainable Finance and Excellence in Sustainable Finance , both in 2013. [ citation needed ]
References
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Shell Foundation – Summary” . www.shellfoundation.org . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b Mutiga, Murithi (2015-07-11). “Barack Obama goes back to Kenya: ‘It’s like JFK going back to Ireland ‘ ” . The Guardian . ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Social enterprise MBA | M-KOPA Solar | Saïd Business School” . www.sbs.ox.ac.uk . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “The Solar Company Making a Profit on Poor Africans” . Bloomberg.com . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Pay-as-you-go solar takes off in East Africa | Corporate Knights” . Corporate Knights . 2015-06-11 . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b “How This Became a Multinational Solar Startup Social Enterprise”. Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit . 2016-01-22 . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b Aglionby, John (2016-03-17). “Lightbulb moment for M-Kopa” . Financial Times . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Power hungry” . The Economist . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ https://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/25/pay-as-you-go-solar-power-takes-off-in-africa.html
- Jump up^ “Products” . M-KOPA Solar . 2014-11-28 . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/m-kopa#/entity
- Jump up^ https://www.ft.com/content/ccfaa1ba-d0f1-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377?mhq5j=e5
- Jump up^ https://www.ft.com/content/ccfaa1ba-d0f1-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377?mhq5j=e5
- Jump up^ “M-KOPA’s Founder on Bringing Hundreds of Solar Jobs to Africa and What He Looks for in New Hires” . MindSky . 2015-11-13 . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ Odengo, Rose (2015-11-13). “East Africa: M-Kopa’s Founder On Bringing Hundreds of Solar Jobs to Africa and What He Looks for in New Hires” . Akilah Net (Kigali) . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “The Solar Company Making a Profit on Poor Africans” . Bloomberg.com . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “The Solar Company Making a Profit on Poor Africans” . Bloomberg.com . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “M-Pesa solar dealer M-Kopa to blacklist defaulters” . Business Daily . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “Safaricom drawn into dispute over M-Kopa name” . Business Daily . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “M-KOPA Solar Bloomberg scoops New Energy Finance Award – Capital Business” . Capital Business . 2014-04-08 . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
- Jump up^ “Press release details – Zayed Future Energy Prize” . www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com . Retrieved 2017-08-22 .
